SB3/HB46 out committee, Medical Cannabis HB46 headed to Texas House floor for vote
May 12, 2025
SB3 and HB 46 were voted out of committee and headed to the Texas state legislature House, with HB46 getting an initial vote today.
SB3 is a completely new bill, but it is getting updates routinely before a House
The bill has gone throug some significant changes and continues to do so. There is no point in posting up any of the the substitutes that are not official yet, as it could change again. What can be recommended is to reach out to Texas hemp and cannabis organizations like ours or others doing work similar to ours. Let those organizations help organize your concerns into language the representatives can put into amendments and that you can contact your reps and request for them to support.
HB46 will be getting it's next floor hearing and House floor vote today. Here's what's changed since committee.
🔹 1. Patient Confidentiality Protections Added
New Section 487.054(c)-(d):
Protects patient registry data.
Explicitly exempts this info from Texas Public Information Act (Chapter 552, Govt Code).
Allows patients to request their own data or designate someone else to access it.
This was not in the original bill.
🔹 2. Mandatory Registration of Personnel
Expanded in 487.053 & 487.102:
Requires all owners, directors, managers, members, and employees to be registered.
Criminal background checks required before hiring (see §487.105).
Original bill didn’t mandate personnel registration or background checks explicitly. This may have been practice already by DPS but will be codified for sure now in the state law.
🔹 3. Eligibility Criteria for Licenses Expanded
487.102 now lists:
Technical, financial, and operational capacity requirements.
Must demonstrate access, accountability, 2 years of operating capital.
Premises must be “reasonably located” for patient access.
The original bill lacked this detailed vetting framework. As well this is another thing that DPS had as their own set of regulations but will now be placed in state law.
🔹 4. Limits on Satellite Dispensary Locations
487.1035(e): A licensee must open one satellite per public health region before opening a second in any region.
487.1035(c): State must act on satellite location requests within 180 days.
Original had no limit on number/location or processing deadlines. This means that if there is at least 1 organization in each health region (11 in total) and has a satellite shop in each region along with their own (12 places of business), there is the possbility of 132 shops if every shop operates a satellite location in each health region on top of their own shop and then more as long as they have a location in each region.
🔹 5. Denial of License Appeals Limited
487.104(b-1): First-time license applicants cannot appeal a denial.
Original version did not restrict appeals. This has a down side of keeping shops from getting a chance to rectify any mistakes the state may have made during the process. This also means that an application denied was a very costly application that went nowhere with no recourse.
🔹 6. Cannabinoid Content Limit Clarified
487.1071: Only naturally derived phytocannabinoids can be included in products.
Non-phytocannabinoids or other substances from cannabis need state approval.
Original only set a 1.2g THC cap per package. No phytocannabinoid restriction. Part of this section is a problem because a phytocannabinoid is defined as being created naturally by a plant of the species Cannabis sativa L. that is separated from the plant by a mechanical or chemical extraction process; binds with endocannabinoid receptors and is created from decarb of a cannibinoid acid. This means that no other plant matter can be part of the final product unless approved by the department. This would mean that terpenes have to be approved before they can be added to products.
🔹 7. Expanded List of Qualifying Conditions
169.003 now includes:
Chronic pain in lieu of opioids
Glaucoma, TBI, spinal neuropathy, IBD, DDD, terminal illness
Palliative/hospice care
Veterans with any beneficial condition
Catch-all via Dept. of State Health Services approval
Original bill only had 10 conditions. This adds ~8 more and opens future inclusion. The DSHS can add conditions as they are requested by physicians and provento the department to be beneficial. That likely will never happen since the department has tried to argue in court in the past that cannabis has no medical benefit when talking about hemp.
🔹 8. Veterans Clause
Newly defined term for “veteran” (Section 169.001(6))
Allows any honorably discharged veteran to qualify based on a physician’s judgment — even without a specific diagnosis.
This is a major inclusion not in the original. This would add a vast amount of patients to the system if they don’t qualify for the other conditions listed. This would give doctors the flexibility to run research programs that gather data for patients such as the author that is a transplant patient and and cannot typically take NSAIDS or substances that may work against anti-rejection meds. The problem with this though is that it should be available to all Texans.
🔹 9. Dosage Unit THC Cap Reverted
169.001(3): THC limit reverted to 1% by weight per dosage unit, except for inhalation, which the executive commissioner will define.
Original updated this to 20 mg per dose, regardless of weight. This means that to get the full 1200mg one would have to scale up from what patients typically buy of a 300mg bottle. This is not favorable and should be returned to the dose limit. Dose limit sounds like the bad idea that it is, but it’s a better idea than a 1% THC cap.
🔹 10. Prescription Refills Added
169.003(b)(2): Up to four 90-day refills allowed per prescription.
Original bill allowed only a single 90-day supply — no refills. But what counts as a 90 day supply when there are limits to what can be dispensed with each container?
🔹 11. New Process to Expand Qualifying Conditions
169.003(c)-(d):
Dept. of State Health Services can add qualifying conditions.
Physicians can petition for new conditions with peer-reviewed research.
Original bill lacked any process for medical expansion or physician petitioning.
🔹 12. Rulemaking Authority Clarified
Numerous references to “director” or “executive commissioner” rulemaking for timelines, THC equivalency (for vapor), and device approvals.
Original mostly deferred to “department” without specificity or patient-facing timelines.
It is recommended that you reach out your representative and tell them to give patients appropriate access without THC percentage limits and to allow doctors to decide if terpenes belong in their cannabis among other things mentioned in this outline. And from there to vote yes on moving medical cannabis forward in Texas.TAKE ACTION and write your rep by clicking here
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